Shopping Surprise: Grocery shoppers get free COVID vaccine in the US as mass vaccination drive sees a no show

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January 8, 2021

Two friends in the US who were buying groceries at a supermarket received Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. A pharmacist approached them to ask if they were interested in getting the vaccine and told them that many first responders missed their vaccine appointments. As the vaccines couldn’t be kept at room temperature beyond a few hours, they would have to be discarded. David MacMillan is not a first responder or health care worker. So he was surprised when a pharmacist at a Giant Food in Washington, D.C. asked him and his friend if they wanted to get the Moderna vaccine.

He posted on the video-sharing platform TikTok about his experience at the supermarket chain’s location in Northeast D.C. on Friday. “She turned to us and was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got two doses of the vaccine and I’m going to have to throw them away if I don’t give them to somebody. We close in 10 minutes. Do you want the Moderna vaccine?” he said in the video.

MacMillan didn’t hesitate. The law school student said he posted the video of him getting the injection to help spread facts about the vaccine, ease concerns and dispel myths and rumors.

Giant Food said the D.C. Department of Health makes it clear: If there are extra doses that will expire, they should be given to anyone who will take them.

Lava to introduce India’s first “customisable smartphone” giving users, freedom of choice

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The Commune

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January 8, 2021

In a bid to counter Chinese smartphone brands, India’s Lava International has developed the world’s first customisable smartphone called ‘MyZ’ and it will be available for purchase starting 11 January, reports Economic Times.

This is a revolutionary idea to develop a customisable smartphone that would allow the users to choose the components like front and rear camera, memory (RAM), storage capacity (ROM) and colour on their own from the company’s official website.

The company is going to offer 66 such combinations to the users making virtually every phone custom-built and at the same time, the consumer has the liberty to get what they want.

Sunil Raina, Lava’s president and business head said the launch of the customisable smartphone would give the users the “freedom of choice” based on what they think suits their usage.

Not only that, the users would be able to customise and upgrade their smartphone at any time, based on their specific need. Also, Lava had recently unveiled its first phone which has been designed by its engineers in India.

But the one aspect Raina is most proud of is that the entire programme was an outcome of the work by Indian talent, as the company aims to acquire a five per cent share in the market this year with a new product portfolio.

Lava International has also claimed it has the manufacturing capacity of 4 crore feature phones and 2.6 crore smartphones per annum.

Man marries two women on same mandap in Chattisgarh, says both are happy

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The Commune

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January 8, 2021

A man named Chandu from Maoist-dominated Bastar region of Chhattisgarh has made heads turn by marrying two women on the same mandap. He went on to say that they were all going to live together in the same house.

Hasina and Sundari fell in love with a man named Chandu Maurya, they both agreed to live together. On January 5, the three got married. Chandu Maurya who works as a farmer, married two women at the same ‘mandap’. Now their marriage has become viral. The story started a year ago when, Chandu met Sundari, they fell in love and decided to live together and exactly a month later, he brought Hasina home.

“Both Haseena and Sundari came to know about each other and agreed to have a relationship with me. We were in touch over the phone but one day Haseena landed at my home to live with me. When Sundari came to know that Haseena is here, she also came to me. And since then, we started living in the same house like a family,” Chandu, told Hindustan Times.

When the villagers raised questions over his live-in relationship with the two women, Chandu decided to marry both of them. He said that both the women love him and he can’t betray them, adding that they both have agreed to live with him forever.

Temples in Tamil Nadu should be managed by devotees, says Sadhguru

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The Commune

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January 8, 2021

Sadhguru, Founder-Isha foundation, tweeted that the temples in Tamil Nadu should be managed by devotees to protect their sanctity. In a post on his Twitter handle, he said that political forces must be divested of their control of Temples which are best managed by Devotees.

#Temples in Tamilnadu are in the clutches of Government Administration. Impinging on the sanctity of these powerfully Consecrated places of worship. Time Temples are managed by #Devotees, not by bureaucratic and Political forces. -Sg @PMOIndia @CMOTamilNadu @rajinikanth

— Sadhguru (@SadhguruJV) January 7, 2021

“#Temples in Tamilnadu are in the clutches of Government Administration. Impinging on the sanctity of these powerfully Consecrated places of worship. Time Temples are managed by #Devotees, not by bureaucratic and Political forces. –Sg.

Sadhguru’s tweet was endorsed by several thousand people on Twitter and has set off a lively engagement on the social media platform.

VCK leader Thirumavalavan goes on a rant against Hindu God Murugan, calls TN Govt’s move to declare holiday for Thai Poosam as vote politics

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The Commune

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January 8, 2021

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) head Thol. Thirumavalavan, known for his Hinduphobic statements has once again found himself in another controversy. This time for going on a rant against Hindu God Murugan.

Speaking at an event on January 7, the Chidambaram MP said “Today we are calling Murugan as our God. Mind you, if you step on that slippery rock you will fall into the deep pit of Sanatana Dharma. That is why Dravidar Kazhagam has totally stayed away from it. Tell me, how can you separate Murugan as Tamil God? He may have been Tamil God. There could be a history for that. But how will you separate and liberate that Tamil God from the wretched clutches of the Sanatan forces [Hindus]?”

Adding further, Thirmavalavan said “If Vinayagan is Murugan’s brother, then he must also be a Tamil God right? Why are we not calling him [Lord Vinayagar] as Tamil God? There are some cooked up stories in all this. Both are brothers. They fought for a mango. Both are brothers and are born to 1 father and 1 mother. Even though he [Lord Sivan] has 2-3 wives, two sons have been born. How can it be that one of them is Tamil God and the other is Hindi God? Why is Vinayagan not being called as Tamil God neither by us nor by them?”

think he wants everyone to accept Jebbus and he will not stop till it happens pic.twitter.com/nSiie78oSe

— Vishwatma 🇮🇳 ( மோடியின் குடும்பம் ) (@HLKodo) January 8, 2021

Commenting on the Tamil Nadu Government’s move to declare Thai Poosam as state holiday he said “If you call Murugan as Tamil God and announce holiday for Thai Poosam, will we as Tamils be able to walk with our heads held high? All of this is being done for votes. If we go by this, then we will fall in to their trap.”

He also said that even ‘kuladeiva’ worship will also lead to falling into the trap of ‘Hinduism’ adding that there exists sculptures of Ramayana and Mahabharatha stories in these temples.

Thirumavalavan is a serial abuser of Hindus and Hindu Gods. In a recently held online seminar organized by Periyar TV had said “All women are prostitutes as per Hindu Dharma.. Manu Dharma.”

In November 2019, he was booked for hurting religious sentiments when he made a comment on temples. He had said “if a structure built like a dome it is a Mosque, if there is a tall tower like structure it is a Church, if there are ugly figurines it is a Hindu temple”.

At a book release event held on 9th December 2017, the VCK leader called Thirugnanasambandhar, one of the 63 Nayanmars as a ‘murderer’.

Delhi police Cyber Cell arrest six men for running an online ‘sextortion’ racket

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The Commune

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January 8, 2021

A gang of youths who have been identified as Waris, Rayees, Annay Khan, Wahid, Mufeed and Akram who are residents of Bharatpur Rajasthan have been arrested the Cyber Cell of Delhi police after it unearthed a cybercrime racket were the culprits were allegedly extorting money from people on Facebook by blackmailing them.

According to Times of India (TOI), Delhi police Cyber Cell has arrested six men from Bharatpur Rajasthan who were allegedly running an online extortion racket and the police managed to recover ₹25 lakhs from 10 bank accounts and 40 victims have been identified.

The extortionists had a very simple modus Operandi wherein they would create fake profiles on Facebook and send friend requests to unsuspecting people who are mostly men over 50.

Once a relationship has been established, they would initiate a video call and then they would proceed to show them obscene videos over video calls and as they watched, the culprits would record them watching the video.

Now having leverage over the victims, they would pose as senior officials of social media platforms and would demand money for deleting the video.

According to DCP (Cyber Cell), Anyesh Roy, the Cyber Crime Unit received several complaints and upon investigating the online extortion racket, the police discovered that the culprits were blackmailing people by threatening to upload video were they are seen watching them.

DCP Roy said, “An inquiry revealed that the victims were contacted over social media platforms like Facebook. The victims were engaged in a brief chat and then asked to make a video call over Messenger or WhatsApp. The victims were shown adult clips and the video call was simultaneously recorded. After some time, they got extortion calls demanding ₹2,000-3,000”.

To maintain their anonymity, the extortionists used SIM cards and bank accounts obtained through fake IDs. They were very careful and would change the SIM cards, issued from different parts of the country, usually after a day or two.

India will become a trillion-dollar digital economy in 2021: NASSCOM Report

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The Commune

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January 8, 2021

GCCs Projected To Create Up To 28 Lakh Jobs In India By 2030

National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) which is an Indian non-governmental trade association and advocacy group has published a report with Zinnov that has highlighted that India in 2020 saw the addition of 1,600 new start-ups in the tech start-up ecosystem.

At the same time, a record 12 of the existing ones emerged as the new entrants into the coveted unicorn club, reports Business Standard.

The report titled “Indian Tech Start-up Ecosystem – On the March to Trillion Dollar Digital Economy” has noted that the nation’s technology start-up base is witnessing a steady growth at a rate of 8%-10% year-on-year.

Another important information published in this report is that as many as 2,100 start-ups leveraged deep-tech in 2020, which is up from 1,600 figure from 2019.

The NASSCOM report further states that India’s potential unicorn pipeline stays strong with 1.5x growth since 2019.

The report ends with a positive note that 2021 promises to be a very good year for Indian start-ups which not only managed to stay afloat amidst uncertainties after the pandemic outbreak but also strategically strengthened their playbook by converting the crisis into opportunity and India march towards becoming a trillion-dollar digital economy.

AltNews “fact-checker” gets facts wrong: Man who waved Indian Tricolour at US Capitol siege turns out to be Modi-critic and a ‘Tharoor-admirer’

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The Commune

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January 8, 2021

Now that photos and videos of January 6’s storming of the US Capitol are doing the rounds on social media, several Indians were astounded to notice that among the many flags and banners being waved by pro-Trump protestors was also the Indian tricolour.

Some users on Twitter though were particularly quick to insinuate the political and ideological leanings of the individual carrying the Indian flag, without knowing anything about their identity.

https://www.twitter.com/ashoswai/status/1347138236196519942

While one Twitter user alleged “strong links” between the “Indian diaspora & the far-right groups” — which, apparently “bring[s] a bad name to the Indian diaspora community and also harm[s] India’s interest — another user claiming to be a “Fact-checker” in his Twitter bio slammed the tricolour-waving individual as a “Bhakt”.

Bhakts with @realDonaldTrump
🇺🇲🤝🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/JJMTrxsPmR

— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) January 7, 2021

Yes only NRI "Bhakts" can defame 1.2 Million Indians by holding Indian Tricolour and be a part of the Right wirng crowd attacking #CapitolBuilding #CapitolHill 🥰 https://t.co/DwKhwWZYG0

— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) January 7, 2021

Unfortunately, the “Fact-Checker” got his facts wrong.

A Republican

The person waving the Indian national flag while Trump supporters besieged the US Capitol is Vincent Xavier, a Trump supporter from Fairfax County, Virginia.

Vincent Xavier is a person of Indian Origin who identifies himself as a social and fiscal conservative. He is also Executive Director at the Indo-American Center according to his social media profile. His Twitter and Facebook timelines announce his avid support for President Trump. He is also the Vice Chair, Community Outreach for the Fairfax County Republican Committee.

A Modi critic

Vincent Xavier is also critic of the Modi-led BJP government, as is evident from his social media. In one instance, he goes as far as calling PM Modi a “snake”. He definitely cannot be called a “Bhakt” by any measure .

While Congress MP Shashi Tharoor denounced the pro-Trump protests, Vincent Xavier replied that he is an American patriot, who — with other American patriots of different national and racial origins — joined a rally in solidarity with Trump due to the allegations of voter fraud in the 20202 US Presidential elections.

Interestingly, he appears to be an admirer of the same Congress leader who denounced him and his fellow Trump supporters. In April of 2015, as mentioned in a Facebook post where he gushes about the Congress MP’s eloquence, Vincent Xavier had lunch with Shashi Tharoor at Washington DC and was a member of the audience at a talk given by Tharoor at Brookings Institution, Washington DC. Vincent also says in his post that he invited the Congress leader to an event organised by the Federation of Malayalee Associations of Americas (FOMAA) at Trivandrum, Kerala.

France has never allowed China to play any “procedural games” at the UNSC on Kashmir says Macron’s Advisor

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The Commune

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January 8, 2021

Senior advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron, Emmanuel Bonne has said that France has been been supportive of India on Kashmir and has not allowed China to play any “procedural games” at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), reports Times of India.

Bonne who is visiting India for the annual strategic dialogue between the two nations said, “When China breaks the rules, we have to be very robust and very clear and this is the sense of our naval presence in the Indian Ocean.”

Speaking at the “France and India Partners for a Stable and Prosperous Indo-Pacific”, organised by the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), Bonne also said France may hold some naval exercises with the QUAD — the grouping of US, Japan, Australia and India them in future pointing out that the French Navy is the only European Navy which patrols the Taiwan strait.

However, he made it very clear that the patrols was not a provocation but a way to assert the necessity to abide by international law.

Speaking at the VIF, Emmanuel Bonne, the diplomatic advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron, said, “When China breaks the rules, we have to be very robust and very clear and this is the sense of our naval presence in the Indian Ocean.”

“In particular we are sharing information, we are manoeuvring together our navies, our air and space commandments are coordinating. We are building capacities and cooperating. When it comes to the Indian Ocean, we are working on maritime surveillance,” he said.

Bonne will also call on other Indian dignitaries during his visit also said, “Let us not go for confrontation and I understand that it’s much easier to say this from Paris than from Delhi when you have Pakistan at your border,”.

On direct threats to India, we have always been very clear. Whether it be on Kashmir, we have been very supportive of India in the Security Council, we have not let the Chinese play any kind of procedural games. When it comes to the Himalayas, just check our statements, we are perfectly clear. What we say publicly, we say to the Chinese also privately, there is no ambiguity,” he said.

Bonne also shared about the his conversation with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval at the Strategic Dialogue and said both of them discussied about strategic opportunities as well as the bilateral defence and security relationship and more military cooperation and the Indian Ocean Region.

“In particular we are sharing information, we are maneuvering together our navies, our air and space commandments are coordinating. We are building capacities and cooperating. When it comes to the Indian Ocean, we are working on maritime surveillance,” he said.

Brother of DMK man orchestrates attack to get police protection, gets caught

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The Commune

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January 8, 2021

Brother of a DMK functionary near Tiruvallur has been caught red-handed for setting up men and damaging his car for want of police protection.

Kannan, is the brother of Karunakaran, a DMK union secretary of Cholavaram South who hails from Paadiyanallur near Senkundram in Thiruvallur district.

He, as part of his real estate business had gone to Thirunilai village in his car on December 27. As he was travelling along the Periyapalayam-Chennai highway, four men who came in two motorbikes suddenly blocked the way and started attacking the car.

The car’s windshields were broken. Kannan and his driver Mani fled the spot and were chased by these men for about half a kilometre.

Kannan later had filed a complained at the Periyapalayam police station following which a team was formed led by Inspector Maheshwari on the orders of Deputy Superintendent of Police Saradhi.

Police, who identified the culprits with the help of surveillance cameras in the area, caught the culprits and interrogated Raja, a lawyer from Chennai based on the information they provided. During the interrogation, it was revealed that the attack was a pre-planned as Kannan wanted to get a police protection and flaunt it for which he had approached Raja. Raja had apparently told Kannan that he would get protection if he goes to police with evidence of threat to his life.

Based on this input, an attack on Kannan’s car was orchestrated.

Following the revelation, Raja along with Leo Vivek, Ayanavaram Balaji, ICF Yuvaraj, Kolathur Hariharan, Kolathur Sakthivel were taken into police custody.

The Commune

Shopping Surprise: Grocery shoppers get free COVID vaccine in the US as mass vaccination drive sees a no show

Lava to introduce India’s first “customisable smartphone” giving users, freedom of choice

Man marries two women on same mandap in Chattisgarh, says both are happy

VCK leader Thirumavalavan goes on a rant against Hindu God Murugan, calls TN Govt’s move to declare holiday for Thai Poosam as vote politics

India will become a trillion-dollar digital economy in 2021: NASSCOM Report

France has never allowed China to play any “procedural games” at the UNSC on Kashmir says Macron’s Advisor

Brother of DMK man orchestrates attack to get police protection, gets caught

NATIONAL NEWS

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